The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1887-03-31
PROFIT in HOGS.
Pigs the Best Stock for Farmers Of Small
Means to Keep.

Pigs the Best Stock for Farmers Of Small
Means to Keep.
Every few years the cry is raised
that s.the bottom has been entirely
dropped out of pork" It drops out
every time there is a scare about trich-
ine. 1t drops out again whenever an
other European country places an en-
barge on our hog products. It drops
out each time a report is circulated
that cotton-seed oil or beef fat is en-
ployed to adulterate lard. Itdrops out
as often as the swine plague breaks out
in a drove of hogs in any part of the
country. 1t drops out SO often that
comparatively few think that it will
" e keep in its proper place.
Most farmers believe that the bottom
will drop out of pork before a litter of
| pigs can be fitted for the market. The
truth is, demand for pork is always
steady. 1t is the favorite meat of near
ly all persons who do hard work.
Miners, lumbermen, sailors and men
employed in building railroads prefer
pork. 1t is the same in most of the
countries of Europe. Persons who work
hard and have poor wages find pork to
be the most economical meat, as it fur
nishes fat that is generally used in the
place of butter, which is beyond their
means to buy.
Pork can be cured and cooked in SO
many ways that it affords a better va
riety or a more frequent change than
beef or mutton. 1t appears to be the
best meat for a steady diet. One will
become tired of any kind of poultry or
game much sooner than of salt pork.
The leaner parts of a hog, when cured
with salt and sugar and smoked, are
extensively used as relishes, and are
much cheaper than cheese, which is
generally eaten as a condiment. Head
cheese, pigs feet and pork sausages de-
serve to rank among the delicacies that
are costly to buy or difficult to prepare.
Fresh pork is much more delicious than
most kinds of meat.
The losses of pigs by the disease pop
ularly known as hog cholera have been
very large during the past ten years,
but the losses through other causes
have been comparatively small. Many
sheep are annually killed by dogs and
wolves. but very few pigs are killed OF
injured by animals. A pig very rarely
strays away or becomes lost, as is the
case with colts and young cattle, and il
is a difficult matter to steal a live pig
and not be detected in the act Fewer
pigs than cattle or horses are injured
by contracting lameness, and if one re-
ceives a mechanical injury its flesh car
generally be saved and utilized if it il
slaughtered within a short time.
l Pigs multiply quicker than any other
: animals kept on farms, come to ma
7 turity IN a shorter time, and produce
more marketable meat in proportion tx
, the amount of food they consume
These are very strong points in thei1
$ favor. They require less shelter thar
t cattle, horses and sheep, and the build
l ings necessary to protect them neeo
t not be expensive. Poor farmers cal
, not raise horses for the reason that i
costs so much to erect buildings to pro
tect them, but few farmers are so poo
: that they can not obtain materials tina
will protect pigs from the cold and wet
All things considered, pigs are the hes
. stock for farmers of small means &
1 keep.-Chicdgo Times.